2022 has been fantastic for me on a personal level, so hopefully we can even more success in 2023. I’m fortunate enough to ride for some excellent trainers, and I have some really nice horses to look forward to, so I’m sure 2023 will be another exciting year.

We kick off with a really competitive card at Cheltenham, and I have four great rides to look forward to.

12:10 – Rock My Way

This looks a hot maiden, and I think there’ll be lots of winners to come out of this race in the future. Firestep of Nicky Henderson’s has been off a while, but I finished behind him in a pair of bumpers a while ago, and I remember thinking that he was one with plenty of ability.

I ride Rock My Way on his first start for Syd Hosie. He won a point-to-point in Ireland back in October, and he looks a nice horse. This is very competitive though, so he’ll need to put in a serious performance to win this on his first start over hurdles.

13:55 – Eden Du Houx

He’s a horse we had high hopes for a few seasons ago, but things didn’t quite go to plan for him at that stage. He won very nicely at Ffos Las last month, and he’s looking like he’s now stepping up to be the horse we hoped he would be.

This will require another step forward, because it’s another very competitive race, but the signs were certainly very positive last time. Most of his best runs have come on soft ground, so I’d certainly like a bit more rain for him. I’d say he’s still very well handicapped based on the ability he has, so hopefully he’ll run a big race.

15:05 – Brinkley

Brinkley is a very talented horse, but he is a bit of an in-and-out performer, so you just have to hope he’s on a going day. When he’s good, he’s very good, but he does often disappoint as he did at Haydock last time.

We are trying the visor with him just to try and wake him up a bit, as he can run in snatches at times, so hopefully the visor will make my life a bit easier. If he gets out of bed on the right side, then I’d say he’s got a very good chance, but he has disappointed before when we’ve fancied him, so he’ll either run like a 2-1 shot, or a 200-1 shot.

15:40 – Crystal Mer

Crystal Mer is very nicely bred, and I’ve sat on him at home a few times and he’s always felt like a nice horse. He did disappoint at Doncaster on his debut last time, so he’ll need to leave that form well behind, but I do think he has the potential to be a good horse, so I don’t see any reason why he can’t.

Tom Scudamore, Coral Racing Ambassador


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